Smile
by the upward glance
Summary: A tendershipping song-fic featuring a rather cruel and philosophical Bakura, and the song "When I Am Through with You" by the VLA. See inside for warnings.


**A/N: Ohhh heyyy! ^^ the upward glance here. Or, as Lady Blackwell affectionately christened me, the Resident Unicorn. Bahahaha (If you're reading this I wuvvvvv jouuuuuuu!) Anyvayyyyzzz this is my first songfic! Wa-hoo! So, if this isn't what it should be, just tell me. I'm a big boy. I can take it. Hehehe I was itching to write a Tendershipping songfic, but couldn't quite find the right song...then I remembered this one. It's the theme song from the former FX show _Damages_. (BeeTeeDubs, a fanstastic show.) I think it fits just right. Yep. Mhmm.**

**Warning: Language, abuse, mentioning of rape.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to "When I Am Through with You" They are property of The VLA. I did not profit from the use of these lyrics.**

Smile

_Little lamb..._

_Smile!_

Bakura gazed curiously toward the pretty package laying at his feet. It was Ryou's heart. Well, proverbially at least. The boy had just moments ago confessed his love for the Thief. Unsure of the course of action he wanted to pursue next, he told him some bromide like, "This is a lot to process, could you give me a little time?" Ryou seemed slightly crestfallen, yet consented to Bakura's request. In the interim, he had elected to take a shower. Bakura had know for some time, of Ryou's love. It was painfully obvious. The askance glances of interest, the blushed cheeks when Bakura got near, the way Ryou seemed just a bit to eager when granted with Bakura's presence. Ryou didn't have to say a word for him to know that he held the kid's heart in his ruthless fist. 'I do appreciate a good sacrificial offering, though. He has delivered himself to me, and I intend to take full advantage of his foolishness. Does he honestly expect me to pour out some sort of repressed affection, and take him on his little twin bed that he has shared with no other living soul? Is he so naïve? Ha! What am I saying! His naivete is the greatest gift he could have given me. He has no inkling as to cavernous aspect of my innermost. That'll make this all the more fun...' 

Bakura rose from the bed and made his way slowly to the bathroom. He wanted to savor his abject control. His hands were quivering with anticipation of future devastation. After making sure the water had been running for a few minutes, he opened the door with the silence characteristic of a leaf falling through the air. He savagely tore open the shower curtain, upon which Ryou loudly exclaimed, "Good God! Bakura! What on Earth are you doing!" The only answer he received was a feral hyena grin and a sharp tug at his wrist; in what appeared to be one swift movement, Bakura shut off the shower, grabbed a robe off the rack, shoved it into Ryou's free hand, and evacuated Ryou from the bathroom. "Bakura! You're hurting me!"

"Cover yourself, hikari. I have no desire to look upon your pathetic frame a moment longer." Ryou wasted no time in complying. His face was an impossible shade of crimson, due to the combination of the heat from the shower and his surging embarrassment. As soon as Ryou's nudity was taken care of, Bakura flung the lad handily onto the couch.

"What's going on? If you have an answer for me, 'Kura, couldn't it have just waited?"

'He has no idea!' Bakura laughed cruelly, "Oh, my lamb. It simply couldn't."

"Really? Well, what is it?" Ryou was looking into his eyes with the complete trust and unabashed hope of child.

Bakura stifled a moan, "The human heart is much too fragile a contraption to lend out on good faith."

"W-what?"

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you..._

"Let me put it another way so your weak little mind can comprehend it: your love means less than nothing."

"Oh Bakura! You don't mean that! How could you say such a thing!"

"Because, pet. It amuses me."

"One's love for another isn't fodder! It's nothing to laugh at or take lightly..."

"Isn't it, though? Love is just an illusion weak people like you delude themselves into believing so they don't realize their lives are completely worthless."

"That's just not true!"

"There's no use arguing, Ryou. I have no soul. So there is no goodness, no conscience, for you to reach. I realized long ago that compassion is fruitless occupation with which I will not waste my time. You are completely defenseless. Your so called virtues are all for nought. Bargain with me all you want; but I'm a darkness that just won't budge."

"I can't believe it...I _won't _believe it Bakura! I know that—"

"-There's a gentle heart beating beneath all this violet, writhing, poisonous muscle that fills me? Hm. I assure you there is not."

"That's not possible..."

"On what premise? That humanity is essentially good? That if what I said were to be true, you'd have to confront what a fucking idiot you were? Well?"

"I-I-"

"Don't bother answering. Let's address the first. A human is a glorified animal. Because he walks on two feet and has a mind, man fancies himself something superior. He's not. He's made of nothing but base desires. Why do you think there are so many addictions, so many murders, so much adultery, so many wars? Religion knows this. That's why they try to preach suppression. I know this, too. But I preach absolute acceptance. I strip away all the bullshit—pretense, convention, morality, rationality—and I am left with the rotten core. Evil. Man, at his core, is evil. So, in a sense, I'm the best man you'll ever meet."

"No...no..." Ryou was sweating and trembling. He had never heard such things! What Bakura was saying...it went against everything he had been taught to believe, to know as right.

"Yes. But, let's move on to the second part, eh Ry? You said you loved me. Why? Based on what? Go on! I'm really curious to know?"

"Uh-um. Well-"

"Oh hell, forget it. I'll tell you. It's because I'm _here_ right? With me, you're not alone. For this you are eternally grateful. I pray on your generosity; I'd suck the blood out of any willing victim. I listened to your petty problems and ridiculous concerns because it amused me to hear what a dipshit you were. You equated polite listening and generic advise to genuine affection. You're so desperate hikari. It's delicious. You gave your heart to me for no reason at all."

"Why...why are you doing this to me?" Ryou's voice was less than a whisper. It was some weak words glued poorly to the air that left his lungs.

"Because. You had the audacity to breathe."

_Oh come back now where did you go?_

_No need to cower, don't know_

_If I can even turn your light on._

_Hello, Daisy is that you_

_Hiding in the grass?_

_I've come to pluck you,_

_I'm gonna pluck you right in half._

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you._

"Did you really think you deserved to be happy? What makes you so special, hm? Nothing. Nothing at all. Life is tantamount to suffering. I'm going to remind you of that. You'll pay for having a heart. You'll pay for living. If I had to, so will you. From this moment forward, you'll never see a shred of mercy, an iota of kindness, a sign of acknowledgement of your worth, beyond being the substance beneath my willful tread. You're the ball of yarn to my cat's paw. Never think you're anything more."

Ryou made a dash for the door. Bakura wondered why he didn't to that sooner. He yanked fiercely on the younger boy's hair, causing him to fall backward upon the glass coffee way he his body lay splayed against the frame, it made Bakura think of the image of the Crucifixion. 'How perfect. Ryou, too, shall suffer for humanity's frailty.'

"Don't ever do that again,"

"Why don't you just kill me already! Isn't that what you want anyway?"

Bakura let out a sigh of disappointment, "My little white flower. My little daisy. Oh, how you underestimate me. What would be the torture of giving you a swift end? No. No no no. no. You shall live. Every moment you are alive is an opportunity. An opportunity, for suffering. Even if all that's left of you is a bag of bones on a bed—as long as there is a quiver in your eye, your soul shall be mine."

Ryou stirred. He extricated himself from the tangle of metal and endeavored to stand, only to fall on his hands and knees. They were mercilessly handled by the shattered glass.

"Mmmnnnn..." Bakura's moan sent shivers down Ryou's spine. 'There's nothing I can do...nothing. He's unstoppable...wait...'

"Do you really expect your punishment to continue to evince the same reaction forever, Bakura? There'll be a point at which you will be left powerless." He didn't expect the ferocious backhand across his fragile face. He was sent reeling to the floor once again.

"You'll learn to quit that pitiful defiance, darling. It's not practical. But. It's more than just punishment. Much more. You are my Frankenstein. More specifically, it's reciprocal. Instead of creating life from dead matter, I shall wring death from abundant life. Murder is so easy. Fire a bullet, and that's that. Soul Murder, however? That's something truly special. There is no man more powerful than he who can kill the spirit of another."

Ryou slowly rose. He held his hands at his side, palms open. He angled his chin upward. "Never. I'll never surrender it to you. If your life is going to be devoted to making me suffer, I'll do the same to you. I'll fight. At every turn. You won't get the pleasure of bringing me to my knees."

_I come to the city alone_

_I packed up my life and my home_

_'cause I feel like a body at rest_

_Is a life in Hell_

_So unpack my bags, unpack my bags_

_Kiss her on the mouth, and she says,_

"_Smile little lamb"_

"Then, shall we commence our contest of wills, babe?"

"Y-yes. Let's." Ryou didn't like the gleam in Bakura's eyes. He'd never seen such a window to oblivion. He felt as though he were standing at the event horizon of a black hole. He knew not what lay beyond this point. But, if the speed of light cannot outdo the pull of a black hole, what hope could Ryou place in his own light—his goodness—outrunning Bakura's grasp? 'No! I can't think that way. If I do, he's won before we've even begun.'

Bakura crept up close to his prey, placing a cold hand upon Ryou's damaged cheek with tenderness. He achieved double mockery: not only did he mock Ryou's expectations, but his own capacity for such an emotion. The act would make Bakura's future actions just that more hideous, for now Ryou had a standard by which to judge.

"You spoke _so_ highly of the purity of love. I'll show how ugly it can be, _dearest_."

Ryou had no cause to contemplate rape before. As Bakura plunged in and out, Ryou thought, 'I'm being raped, yet this cannot be real. It cannot. Nothing that should be so beautiful, should hurt so deeply...' It wasn't just the physical pain. There was a beginning and an end to that. It was the emotions. He would never be pure again, there was no recovering from this ignominious stain. He would never know what giving all of yourself to one you admired and loved felt like. He would never know of love. It was all so unfair. Everything. He stole everything. Because...'Because I unlocked the door...' He couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. They rose to a level of hysteria. In response, he felt Bakura grin into his shoulder blade. The unheard laughter, the mockery, the sadistic delight, it all seeped through his skin, into his blood stream, like a viper's toxin. His heart lurched, "Let me go! Let me go! Stop! This isn't fair! This isn't fair you bastard!" With all his might, he tried to hurl Bakura off of his body. Instead, he only found himself sinking deeper into the quicksand of sheets.

"Oh, Ryou! Such a fucking fool in perpetuity. A Little Lamb. The perfect prey."

_When I am through with you,_

_there won't be anything left._

_When I am through with you,_

_I'm on to all you have left._

_When I am through with you,_

_When I am through with you,_

_There won't be anything left._

**Well! There you have it! R&R if you feel so inclined! :)**

**XOXO**


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